Asteroid Alert: NASA Tracks 5 Near-Earth Asteroids, 3 of Them as Large as Planes
Beginning on Wednesday, five asteroids will pass close to Earth, but NASA doesn’t anticipate any danger to the planet.
According to NASA’s Asteroid Watch dashboard, four asteroids the size of a plane, three the size of a house, and one the size of a bus will approach Earth between September 6 and September 12.
On Wednesday, the asteroid known as JA5 will pass 3.17 million miles from Earth, according to NASA. JA5, a house-sized asteroid, was initially discovered in 2021 and measures about 59 feet.
Two asteroids, QC5 and GE, will fly by Earth on September 8 at distances of 2.53 million and 3.56 million miles, respectively. According to NASA Asteroid Watch statistics, QC5 is about 84 feet tall, the size of a plane, and was found this year, while GE is around 26 feet tall, the size of a bus, and was found in 2022.
According to NASA, the two additional asteroids the size of an airliner are anticipated to pass Earth on September 10. According to NASA, the 68-foot-long asteroid QF6 and the 170-foot-long QE8 are both passing within 945,000 and 1.65 million miles, respectively, of Earth. This year saw the discovery of both asteroids.
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Close Encounters in Space
NASA estimates that there are approximately 239,000 kilometers between Earth and the moon on average.
According to NASA, despite approaching Earth by 4.6 million miles, none of the asteroids are larger than 150 meters (492 feet), thus they do not represent a threat to the globe.
ABC News contacted NASA for comment, but they did not answer right away.
According to NASA Asteroid Watch, an asteroid between 140 and 310 feet in size safely flew past Earth in March. According to the agency, an asteroid of this magnitude only passes Earth once every ten years.
On August 31st, NASA had uncovered more than 32,000 asteroids that were close to Earth. The space agency has found 10,541 asteroids larger than 140 meters (or 459 feet) and 853 asteroids larger than 1 kilometer (or 0.62 miles).
NASA reports that 10 asteroids have come closer to Earth in the last 365 days than the moon.
According to NASA, the Asteroid Watch dashboard keeps track of asteroids and comets that make “quite close encounters to Earth.”
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Source: ABC News
